It’s tough to sustain the pressure they had, Duchene said. We kind of just held the fort and (Anderson) had some big saves and we ended up getting those two (goals) late.

I’ve been through it, through tough shooting nights, George said. Melo has been through tough shooting nights. That’s the least of my concerns and the least of his concerns, I’m sure of it. That’s all going to come. My job is just to continue to keep going. Continue to stay in attack mode. I’ll get in a rhythm here eventually where I’ll feel good on a nightly basis but I will continue to be aggressive out there.

Westbrook had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the 99th triple-double of his career for the Thunder, who moved into fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Oklahoma City is now a season-high 11 games above .500.

Thunder center Steven Adams left the game in the third quarter with a left hip contusion and did not return. Just two days earlier against San Antonio, he hurt his left ankle in the third quarter and did not return.

Jusuf Nurkic added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Blazers, who have the longest current winning streak in the NBA and a two-game lead over Oklahoma City for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

After Lillard put the finishing touches on the win, Spoelstra said Portland’s All-Star deserves a little more recognition league-wide.

I don’t know if there is any other player in this league right now that is playing at a higher level than Lillard, Spoelstra said. You know the names in the MVP conversation. The way he’s playing right now and winning, he deserves to be in that conversation as well.

If this game is anything like the last time these teams played, it will be a track meet on skates. The Jets led 3-1 and 5-3 on Feb. 27 in Manitoba, but Nashville stormed from behind and won 6-5 as Ryan Hartman deflected the tie-breaker home in the last minute of his first game with his new team.

Heart disease caused a longtime USA Hockey executive’s death less than three weeks before the Pyeongchang Olympics.

I don’t know if he could do that again, but it was a great shot, Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.

Another 3-pointer by Collins with 7:03 left in the second quarter put Portland up 45-33, forcing the Heat to call time.

Heat: Monday was the deadline for the Heat to use a $5.5 million trade exception they were granted after shooting guard Dion Waiters underwent season-ending surgery on his ankle. The Heat would have had to release a player already on their roster to open up a roster spot to use the sizable exception.

Trail Blazers: Lillard came in averaging nearly 33 points during the streak, which includes two victories over the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. I think this might be the best level that he’s played, coach Terry Stotts said. I thought what he did last year after the All-Star break was amazing. He carried us to the playoffs last year, showing great leadership and a high quality of play. It might be better this year, but we still have 16 games to go.

If this was James’ last trip to Los Angeles as a Cleveland Cavalier with a potential NBA-altering free-agency decision to make this summer, the Lakers took the opportunity to leave James with one final impression. The Lakers used a 22-3 run at the end of the third quarter to run away with a 127-113 victory over the Cavaliers.

With the win, the Lakers have now gone 7-2 after the All-Star break. Meanwhile, the Cavs (38-28) have dropped down to No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings, with the Indiana Pacers (39-28) moving a half-game ahead of them.

Two playoff-bound teams clash on Monday night, when the Winnipeg Jets face off against the Washington Capitals. Which team will go further in the postseason?
Greg Wyshynski, senior writer: The Capitals and Jets are in two very different places in their life spans as championship contenders. Look no further than their respective goal-scoring virtuosos: Alex Ovechkin, 32, has 97 Stanley Cup playoff games to his credit.

Minutes after the Nashville Predators’ 10-game winning streak ended Saturday night with a 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey, coach Peter Laviolette had moved on to the next one.

The win marked the first time the Bucks have won in Memphis since 2009.

We wanted more, Bucks interim head coach Joe Prunty deadpanned about Jennings’ performance. No, he was very good tonight. Obviously the 12 assists were great. We had 33 as a team. Like the ball movement, like the way as a group we shared it and pushed the ball. But overall a really positive night from him, a lot of things that were really good.

For Jennings, he was just happy to be back on an NBA court and taking pride in showing the world he can play at a high level again.

I was nervous, he admitted. I felt like it was my first rookie game again, just putting on that jersey was a blessing. I’m just very grateful.

Jan. 13: You might think of Minute Maid Park as a significantly more hitter-friendly environment for Cole than PNC Park, but that’s only true in terms of home runs. It’s actually a pitching-friendly environment and boosts strikeouts, and the change of scenery should help, keeping Cole among the top 25 fantasy starters. Musgrove could get a look in the Pirates’ rotation, Moran could take over at third base and Feliz provides bullpen depth. All could be endgame targets in NL-only leagues. Read more from Eric Karabell.

One interesting element in the Clippers’ rebuild strategy is that Williams and Harris both played well enough this season to be borderline All-Star candidates, and their impact stats reflect that. Williams is almost certainly going to be the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and Real Plus Minus (RPM) paints him as the biggest positive offensive impact at the shooting guard position in the NBA (+4.36 ORPM). And Harris actually has a higher offensive (+2,58 ORPM) and overall (+2.06 RPM) RPM score as compared to Griffin (+1.61 ORPM, +0.83 RPM) this season. He’s also younger, on a more affordable contract and less injury prone.

The veteran right-hander has agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Lynn had been one of a host of higher profile free agents looking for a team with Opening Day less than a month away. Like Mike Moustakas, Carlos Gonzalez and Jonathan Lucroy in recent days, the starting pitcher ultimately signed a deal.

The Capitals superstar scored his 600th goal at age 32 and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. But he has a long way to go to reach the Great One. Our experts weigh in on whether Ovechkin will break the sport’s most famous record.

At 32 years old, Ovechkin is the third-youngest player in NHL history to reach 600 goals. Only Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky (894 goals) and Mario Lemieux (690) did it sooner.

Ovechkin is also the sixth player in NHL history to score 600 career goals with one franchise, joining Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Bobby Hull.

Obviously a really amazing feeling, pretty cool feeling, Ovechkin said during a second-period intermission interview when asked what the milestone means to him.

My wife [Nastya] is here — she just came back from Moscow. She said, ‘I have a feeling you’re going to score tonight and we’re going to enjoy the time,’ Ovechkin added. So, I’m very happy. … My parents are watching the game at home and they’re happy. So whole family happy, it’s the most important thing.

Westbrook completed the triple-double when he chased down a missed 3-pointer by Taurean Prince with 2:38 left for his 10th rebound. He finished with 32 points, 12 assists and 12 boards to lead the Thunder to a 119-107 victory.

Tuesday’s triple-double was Westbrook’s 21st of the season, and his third consecutive game with one. En route to winning the MVP last season, Westbrook set a record with 42 triple-doubles, topping Robertson’s 55-year-old mark, while also becoming the first player to average a triple-double since Robertson in 1962.

Westbrook has recorded more triple-doubles than 23 of the other 29 active franchises and has 32 more than the next-closest active player (LeBron James).

Westbrook has exploded as the new triple-double king over the past three seasons, with 81 of his 100 coming in that span; 63 have come since Kevin Durant left the Thunder to join the Warriors.

Minnesota fell to 38-27 after Thursday night’s 108-99 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and hold the third seed in the Western Conference playoff race. In his fifth season with the Timberwolves, Muhammad dropped to 9.4 minutes and 3.8 points per game. He averaged 9.9, 10.5 and 13.5 points a game in his past three seasons, respectively.

Kyle Soppe: Millsap is a good player, but I believe that we’ve already seen his best production for the 2017-18 season. While Denver is vying for a playoff spot, are they really a threat to make any noise this postseason? No — no they are not. So I’m operating under the assumption that the team will look to get younger options (Mason Plumlee and Trey Lyles) some experience, thus limiting the upside of Millsap.

“There’s some low-hanging fruit such as the one-and-done,” Swofford said at ACC basketball media day in October. “I say low-hanging fruit. It is and it isn’t. From my perspective, it is in the sense that would be something that would immediately help, and if college athletics could do that, I don’t think there’s any question we would do that. The challenge is getting the NBA and the players’ union to play ball with us on that.”

Brandon Ingram added 19 before leaving with a leg injury that didn’t initially sound too serious, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 18 and Kyle Kuzma finished with 16 for the Lakers, who won in Miami for the first time since Feb. 10, 2008. The Lakers shot 59 percent and Cheap Jerseys Hotwere 16 of 29 from 3-point range.

For starters, Detroit is without point guard Reggie Jackson, who leads the Pistons in assists and is averaging 14.6 points. Jackson is out until mid-March due to a sprained right Cheap Jonathan Toews Jerseys ankle, and his absence gives Detroit even more faith that the way to win is by going inside first.

The Pistons are just 2-7 in their past nine games. But when they are Cheap Knock Off Jerseys playing well, what they do well is rebound and score in the paint.

Bobby Portis and the Chicago Bulls finally broke through with a late burst that made the difference.

Portis scored 22 points and made three straight shots during the decisive run in the fourth quarter to help Chicago roar back and beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-100 on Friday night.

Suns: Veteran C Tyson Chandler sat out with back spasms, missing his sixth game in the last seven. .Jackson’s previous season-high was 23 against Charlotte on Feb. 4. .Booker, Jackson and Payton combined for 82 of the Suns 110 points.

Grizzlies: Last win was the Jan. 29, 120-109 victory over Phoenix. … Matched their season-high 11 straight losses, the first time from Nov. 11-Dec. 2 . … JaMychal Green recorded his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. .Harrison is averaging 17.6 points over the last five games.

Hart is averaging 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 21.5 minutes per game this season. The 30th pick in the NBA draft has started 20 games and four of his six double-doubles have come in his past 10 games as a starter.

“He brings a lot to the team,” said point guard Lonzo Ball, who cut Hart’s steak for him at a Miami steakhouse when some players went to dinner the same day Hart injured his hand. “When he plays a lot of minutes, [he’s] usually a double-double and he is a knock-down shooter. Got to fill in the shooting and defensive gaps for him.”

Lillard’s 3-pointer and rebound basket from Davis got Portland within 78-75 going into the fourth quarter.

“He started hitting some long 3s — he made some superstar shots. That happens with Dame,” Towns said.

Blazers starter Maurice Harkless left the game in the first half with Best Place To Buy Cheap Jerseys a left knee injury. He did not return.

Ball heard all the criticism of his shot earlier this season and the suggestions Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys from some that he needed to completely overhaul his unorthodox form after shooting 28.6 percent from 3 in October and then 24.
3 percent from behind the arc and 30.4 percent overall in November.